Interest builds around possible changes to NASCAR schedule

gnomesayin said:
O'Donnell mentioned on their little Youtube infomercial unveiling that they want to rotate the finale, implying ISM isn't considered a permanent fixture there.

The two week summer break is obviously being driven by NBC and the Olympics, so it'll be interesting to see if by '21 the season is ending in October without it.
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Don’t forget 2021 they can add and drop races, so probably have more changes.
 
superchuck500 said:
They're going to be shorter races? Or do you just mean 400s instead of 500s?
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I'll be shocked if they remain 400 miles. If the one is a roval than it certainly won't be. If the weather is dicey (entirely possible in late June) then what happens? Run Monday and Tuesday?

This will be the end of Pocono within 2-3 years imo. I think it will have a place for regional road racing and such but people aren't going to support this in order for it to remain viable. The track is out in the middle of nowhere. A double header seems more practical for a track located with an immediate metro area to draw from.
 
1.)The Bristol cutoff race is going to be insane.
2.)My heart is broken that Daytona is no longer on July 4th weekend. Cant believe it they dont get it at all.
3.)Pocono is on life support, cant believe Michigan still has it's two dates ( I like the track, glad they kept them. for now.)
4.) Martinsville as the 2nd to last race to get to the NASCAR Bowl is going to be also insane, like stop what you are doing and watch.
5.) Still feel like in 2021 there will be a race between Daytona 500 and going west. Like I posted earlier I'd start with The 500, go down to Miami then back up to Rockingham over to Atlanta and out west. Maybe I'd even stop in Texas before going out west to hit Vegas, Phoenix, Fontana and then a week off.
6.) EXCITED for a Martinsville night race. Like super excited. That speedway is even more so on my bucket list.
7.) I was a proponent of less races.... but seeing how the season ends in early November instead of right before one of my favorite weeks of the year Thanksgiving week makes me sad. Im not ready for less races.
8.) NBC truly has this sport by the nuts if they took a two week break for the Olympics when in other years its been business as usual when the Games have been on NBC during NASCAR season. That really sucks. I hate NBC.
I think they got some stuff right, I am not giving them enough credit.... they got ALOT right. But they bastardized one of their few traditions left for their bastardized points system which..... they took Dega off as a cutoff race so there'd be no shenanigans and then they move Daytona to the CUTOFF FOR THE PLAYOFFS. I just dont get it.
 
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superchuck500 said:
ISM final
Daytona (2nd race) will be regular season finale
Pocono to host 'double-header'
Bristol night race moved into playoffs (will be a cutoff)
Indy - July 4 weekend
Martinsville - Mother's Day (night race)
Darlington - first race of playoffs
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I honestly like all of these besides the Indy/Daytona swap. The playoff schedule is very good (even though I still don't like the playoff format in general).

Personally though, the Atlanta and Homestead dates don't work for me. Sigh.
 
LouieLouie said:
Why did we move Daytona to the final race before the playoffs? Daytona doesn't need help with viewers and that final race was actually pretty exciting at Indy, esp since Indy has troubles keeping the racing interesting. Hopefully by then the high downforce package is long gone.
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I think that they think that the larger TV audience for Daytona creates more exposure leading into the playoffs.

I think they're wrong and it's much ado about nothing, but it doesn't matter to me. The extra million or million and a half people that watch Daytona because it's Daytona don't care about the little playoffs points battles.
 
Wow. This is the best thing NASCAR has done in years. I'm planning on going to the Phoenix Lottery race. And probably the Martinsville night race. Daytona's 2nd race will be insane. Atlanta might actually have halfway decent weather. Martinsville cutoff race is going to be epic. So excited for next season.
 
gnomesayin said:
I think that they think that the larger TV audience for Daytona creates more exposure leading into the playoffs.

I think they're wrong and it's much ado about nothing, but it doesn't matter to me. The extra million or million and a half people that watch Daytona because it's Daytona don't care about the little playoffs points battles.
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Especially since 14 of the 16 drivers are already set. So now Daytona 2020 will focus on where Paul Menard, Ricky Stenhouse Jr, and Erik Jones are located at all times.
 
KodiakRusty89 said:
I'll be shocked if they remain 400 miles. If the one is a roval than it certainly won't be. If the weather is dicey (entirely possible in late June) then what happens? Run Monday and Tuesday?

This will be the end of Pocono within 2-3 years imo. I think it will have a place for regional road racing and such but people aren't going to support this in order for it to remain viable. The track is out in the middle of nowhere. A double header seems more practical for a track located with an immediate metro area to draw from.
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I don't really get it. If Pocono can host a Sunday event, why can't it host Saturday and Sunday? It seems that if they're drawing people into the mountains from the big metro centers up there, having two Cup races in a single weekend might be an even bigger draw. I don't really understand your concern (I'm not knocking it, just dont' get it).

I think they can say this is for the Olympic break - so they don't have to lose races and still finish around the same time. If it doesn't work, it's just one year. That's not going to kill Pocono.

But it's also an experiment. If it goes really well, we might see other double-headers in the future.
 
superchuck500 said:
I don't really get it. If Pocono can host a Sunday event, why can't it host Saturday and Sunday? It seems that if they're drawing people into the mountains from the big metro centers up there, having two Cup races in a single weekend might be an even bigger draw. I don't really understand your concern (I'm not knocking it, just dont' get it).

I think they can say this is for the Olympic break - so they don't have to lose races and still finish around the same time. If it doesn't work, it's just one year. That's not going to kill Pocono.

But it's also an experiment. If it goes really well, we might see other double-headers in the future.
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My question is, why do we need a doubleheader? I thought that's why we have Xfinity and the Truck Series?
 
I am already excited for 2021 to see as this schedule is constructed to find out which venues will replace one of the Pocono races, the Clash, and one of the Michigan races. Im kidding. but maybe not.
 
Pocono will not completely leave the schedule folks. They still draw 50k crowds which is more than most tracks can say. Maybe down to one date, but it won't be gone any time soon.
 
I will say that since this sports gives zero $hits about Tradition and it seems like we are heading there anyways... I hope they rotate the 10 playoff tracks each year. It'd be super cool to have a segment at the banquet where you have former championship drivers or older drivers unveil the 10 playoff tracks. Kind of like how they do in the UEFA Champions League where they unveil the matchups with former great players. I'd be down for that.
 
LouieLouie said:
My question is, why do we need a doubleheader? I thought that's why we have Xfinity and the Truck Series?
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My guess is I think they're trying to accommodate the TV break without racing into December. The most sensible time to do something is around the break (August) and somebody came up with the idea to run a double-header. So they picked Ponoco as the place to do it.

Unless it goes over really well, they'll just say it was for the Olympics and go back to the usual.
 
Pocono should be interesting....sort of miss there not being a Saturday afternoon race in quite some time (wonder if Fox would do the Saturday race, and NBC does the Sunday?). I'm assuming they'll simply shift the Ford championship weekend sponsorship to Phoenix. And, throwing every bone they can to get the Brickyard back to what it once was.
 
Brickyard has not been selling well, so moving it to the 4th is a last ditch effort to save it. At least IMHO.

Not only that, but to put ISM and Martinsville near the end of the schedule is neat. Especially ISM after the rebuilding of the track and new facilities put up... Bills need to be paid.
 
Kiante said:
Brickyard has not been selling well, so moving it to the 4th is a last ditch effort to save it. At least IMHO.

Not only that, but to put ISM and Martinsville near the end of the schedule is neat. Especially ISM after the rebuilding of the track and new facilities put up... Bills need to be paid.
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They said something on the livestream alluding to moving the finale each year. I like that.

Imagine the championship being decided at Martinsville one year. :growl:
 
I wonder if the second-leg of the Pocono double-header will start based on the first-leg finishing order? They won't have time (nor does it make sense) to have a second qualifier.
 
Kiante said:
Brickyard has not been selling well, so moving it to the 4th is a last ditch effort to save it. At least IMHO.
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It's a TV race and important to NBC. 5.6 million viewers for its network return in 2017 (more than Talladega), rained out last year. It's not going anywhere. The Speedway isn't going to sell a ton of tickets regardless, but they'll probably sell more on July 4 weekend despite the hot weather fears.
 
superchuck500 said:
I wonder if the second-leg of the Pocono double-header will start based on the first-leg finishing order? They won't have time (nor does it make sense) to have a second qualifier.
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Finishing order of the first race determines the qualifying order? That would alright with me.
 
I don't have any major problems with it. Previously I would have objected to a plate race as the final cutoff, but I'll wait and see how the cars do at Daytona with the new package first. I'd hoped the Daytona cutoff and one of the Pocono races would be rovals but I didn't expect either one.

EDIT: I hope they increase the Phoenix finale to at least 350 miles, preferably 400.
 
Snappy D said:
8.) NBC truly has this sport by the nuts if they took a two week break for the Olympics when in other years its been business as usual when the Games have been on NBC during NASCAR season. That really sucks. I hate NBC.
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They're paying NASCAR more money than even the title sponsor.
 
Kinda bummed out about Daytona not being on July 4 weekend and Pocono’s a little weird, but other than that it looks interesting to me
 
superchuck500 said:
I don't really get it. If Pocono can host a Sunday event, why can't it host Saturday and Sunday? It seems that if they're drawing people into the mountains from the big metro centers up there, having two Cup races in a single weekend might be an even bigger draw. I don't really understand your concern (I'm not knocking it, just dont' get it).

I think they can say this is for the Olympic break - so they don't have to lose races and still finish around the same time. If it doesn't work, it's just one year. That's not going to kill Pocono.

But it's also an experiment. If it goes really well, we might see other double-headers in the future.
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Who wants make the 2-4 hour drive two days in a row? There's no hotels or infrastructure near Pocono. The nearest practical places to stay are in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre area or the Lehigh Valley so you're still driving an hour plus to the track each day. I don't get who's going to be be attending both races. Especially if they're both compressed distances.

I have some good ties thanks to my job. I'm interested to see how this is playing with some of our local politicians and with the local business movers and shakers. This will definitely be noticed in Harrisburg.
 
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LouieLouie said:
My question is, why do we need a doubleheader? I thought that's why we have Xfinity and the Truck Series?
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They need to fo single day double headers with them on Cup races that have late start times. Had one at Kentucky a few years ago because of rain and it was great.
 
iam lazy so,did we got anymore short course or road races or just moved the same races around???
 
MikeInIllinois said:
Pocono should be interesting....sort of miss there not being a Saturday afternoon race in quite some time (wonder if Fox would do the Saturday race, and NBC does the Sunday?). I'm assuming they'll simply shift the Ford championship weekend sponsorship to Phoenix. And, throwing every bone they can to get the Brickyard back to what it once was.
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I think they said the FOX portion will end at Sonoma again.
 
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